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Comic Book Day: Pull List for August 13, 2014

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The Inhumans are getting their own movie possibly starring Vin Diesel? DC’s Aquaman movie has two dueling screenwriters? Kermit might be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Throg? With so much great superhero cinema news coming down the pipeline, it can be difficult to remember that there are even more great comic books coming out every week. So, what is a hero-hungry reader like yourself to do? Simple! Let us be your sherpas through the slippery slopes of Comic Book Day. Keep scrolling down through this week’s edition of the Pull List where you’ll read about what’s next for Batman, Dark Horse’s final days with Star Wars, a brand new sci-fi series from Dan Abnett and I.N.J. Culbard, and much more.

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Batman #34 | DC Comics | Scott Snyder, Gerry Duggan, Matteo Scalera

The long, dark, twisted journey that was Scott Snyder’s “Zero Year” arc has come to a close and now we’re looking to Gotham’s future. While there are certainly hints scattered throughout Batman #34 that portend what’s coming down the Batman pipeline, the issue is largely a self-contained story from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Matteo Scalera. Let me say this right now: if Duggan’s Arkham Manor series is half as good as this issue, it’ll still be better than most of what’s on store shelves. In his first crack at the Dark Knight, Duggan gives us a terrific transitional story that brings us back to modern day where Batman is hot on the trail of a mysterious killer stalking the streets of Gotham. While that’s nothing new as far as Gotham’s streets are concerned, the killer’s targets do seem to be throwing Batman for a loop. They’re not high profile politicians or chiefs of police; they’re average Joes. Or, in the words of the killer, a terrifying new character called The Meek, “they’re nobody.” Little does he know, everyone in Gotham City is someone to Batman, and he’s always watching.

One-shots are, perhaps, the most difficult feat to pull off in comics in that they need to tell a complete story in the span of a single issue. Thankfully, the combination of Duggan and Scalera here proves that they’re more than up to the task. After the long-churning, slow burn build of “Zero Year” – which was very enjoyable – it’s almost a relief to have a nice, one-and-done issue in which we get conflict and resolution in 22 pages. Though the idea of calling a killer murdering helpless residents of Gotham a “palate cleanser” seems weird, the issue does feel like a breath of fresh air for longtime readers. Scalera’s moody, sinewy artwork lends a thrilling macabre undertone to the issue and makes the moments of violence all the more impactful as a result. His pencils have a rough-hewn quality and his layouts offer a gritty cinematic quality that is pitch perfect for a serial killer story like this. Duggan’s pacing is on point and the issue plays out a bit like Hannibal goes to Gotham City in all the right ways. This is Gerry Duggan’s design, and it is one that I’m eager to see more of, especially as we trudge forward into a new era of Batman,Arkham Manor, and beyond.

Dark Ages #1 | Dark Horse Comics | Dan Abnett and I.N.J. Culbard

Review by Charles Webb

For the first few pages, writer Dan Abnett and artist I.N.J. Culbard keep us cold and in the muck with the wandering band of mercenary soldiers, led by Captain Hawkherst: they’re starving, cold, and hoping to make their way to France to earn some money cutting up rivals for the throne. But when a meteor crashes near their camp, unleashing something out of Lovecraft, they’re counting their dead and forced to flee to a nearby monastery.

If that description seems thin, the first issue isn’t quite that: Abnett gives us some time with Hawkherst and his men – completely unsentimental knights, all scars and talk about killing. Abnett wisely doesn’t play them as monsters, instead making his mercenaries professionals who are just very, very proficient at murder for hire.

If you need a hook for Dark Ages, think of it as something from the Mignolaverse where it turns out the horrors from beyond the stars are weird space monsters. Abnett and Culbard play up the horror of that first attack with fire and terror for Hawkherst and his men, the kind of thing that wouldn’t be out of place in the opening act of a B.P.R.D. story. The duo, then, are in good company because I love the hell out of some B.P.R.D..

Star Wars #20 | Dark Horse Comics | Brian Wood and Carlos D’Anda

Review by Eric Diaz

And thus, we come to the end of a long and very fruitful era, as Star Wars #20 is the final issue in that galaxy far, far away to come from Dark Horse Comics, after nearly twenty three years of being the comic book home or stormtroopers and Jedi alike, the twentieth issue is the last one ever before the big move to Disney owned Marvel next year.

Brian Wood’s and Carlos D’Anda’s final issue of Star Wars is a fun, light romp one last time with characters like Luke, Leia and Han. In this last issue, the rebels receive a message from Princess Leia’s childhood friend Seren Song, who is a Rebel agent who went undercover in the very earliest days of the Rebellion forming. Seren has been out of contact for so long, no one knows if she had become an Imperial during that time for real or not.

Writer Brian Wood captures the essence of the characters perfectly, it really feels like they popped out from their appearance in A New Hope. (the issue is set in the time right after Episode IV.) I’ll be sad to see him go once the title moves over to Marvel next year. There isn’t anything huge revealed in this last issue or anything like that, it’s just a nice adventure from the rebel crew, one Star Wars fans everywhere would enjoy.